Galen Biery Papers and Photographs, 1861-1992

Overview of the Collection

Creator

Biery, Galen

Title

Galen Biery Papers
and Photographs

Dates

1861-1992 (inclusive)

18611992

1880-1992 (bulk)

18801992

Quantity

50 Linear Ft., ( )

Collection Number

XOE_CPNWS0027biery (collection)

Summary

Galen Biery, a longtime employee of
Pacific American Fisheries, was one Bellingham, Washington’s best-known local
historians. The Biery Papers comprise subject files, scrapbooks, newspapers,
audio and visual materials, maps and photographs. These records reflect Biery’s
fascination with the local history of Bellingham and Whatcom County,
Washington, as well as his other interests including Alaska, the fishing and
salmon canning industries, photography and early radio. Items of particular
interest include Biery’s recordings of oral interviews with notable local
individuals, scrapbooks of clippings and photographs, and materials pertaining
to Pacific American Fisheries. The collection also contains maps and a large
number of photographs documenting the landscape and communities around
Bellingham Bay and Whatcom County and the development of local and regional
industries.

Funding for preparing this
finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding the finding aid was
awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Galen Alvord Biery (1910-1994) was one of Bellingham’s most well-known
local “armchair” historians. During the summer 1930, Biery was introduced to
Beverley B. Dobbs, who had become famous for filming some of the first motion
picture travelogues of the Alaskan Gold Rush. In Fairhaven Biery began working
for Dobbs as he photographed the fish processing operations at Pacific American
Fisheries during the 1930s. Biery later travelled with him to Seattle to learn
more about motion pictures and photographic techniques.

Galen Biery set up a newsreel laboratory in Bellingham in 1932 and
captured the Nooksack River floods on film which was aired nationally. In 1935
Biery’s inventiveness, with the help of Bob and Joe Dunn, led to a patent for a
post-card printing machine. Later, Biery and Erwin Hube invented a
revolutionary salmon skinning and boning machine used in a Pacific American
Fisheries cannery in Alaska. Throughout his career, Biery worked as a
machinist, mechanic, researcher and cannery foreman at Pacific American
Fisheries.

After his retirement in 1976, Biery was able to concentrate on his
passions of history, photography, film and gardening. He shared both his
knowledge of local history and the thousands of photographs he had taken
through his famous “Magic Lantern” slide shows. The “Magic Lantern” slide shows
began in 1958 for the Fairhaven Lions’ Club and expanded to include historical
societies, museums, community clubs and local elementary schools. The shows
presented Biery’s recollections and research on local history, including Lake
Whatcom, Pacific American Fisheries, local theaters and the Mount Baker
country.

Biery collaborated on many books, including Looking Back, with Dorothy
Koert, wrote several newspaper columns titled, “Bellingham…A Look Back,” in the
Bellingham Buyer, and had photos published in the Bellingham Herald. His
historic photos grace almost every newspaper in the region, as well as several
books. In 1984, Biery was named “Whatcom County’s Living Treasure” by the
Bellingham Arts Commission, and proclaimed “Honor Citizen” by the City of
Bellingham.

Although Galen Biery died on September 26, 1994, his heritage is
deeply ingrained in the residents of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington.
His “Magic Lantern” slide shows have been carried on by several friends and
most recently by his grandchildren. The Galen Biery Papers reflect his
commitment to the history of Bellingham.

The Galen Biery Papers and Photographs at the Center for Pacific
Northwest Studies comprises subject files, scrapbooks, newspapers, audio and
visual materials, maps and photographs spanning the period ca. 1861-1992, with
the bulk of records dated 1880-1992. The collection reflects Biery’s
fascination with the history of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington, as
well as his other interests including Alaska, the fishing and salmon canning
industries, photography and early radio.

Subject Files dated 1861-1985 document Biery’s varied research
interests, containing clippings, notes and manuscripts pertaining mostly to
local events, businesses, public institutions and well-known individuals. These
files are arranged alphabetically, and reflect Biery’s own file arrangement
wherever possible. Biery's Lake Whatcom Research files are also arranged
alphabetically, and contain typed extracts from newspapers and interviews
regarding the history of Lake Whatcom.

Biery’s records include a significant number of newspapers spanning
the period 1873-1988. Newspapers published in Whatcom County are arranged
separately from other regional newspapers, which include materials generated in
Alaska and California. The majority of these papers are dated in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century and comprise papers which are not
available on microfilm elsewhere. Biery’s records also include a small number
of bound volumes generated by local businesses including Bellingham Shipyard
Company, and also Whatcom County and Bellingham Directories spanning the period
1920 – 1988.

Biery’s recordings of local television and radio shows, together with
the oral histories and interviews he conducted with local individuals such as
Roland Gamwell and Hugh Galbraith comprise a valuable resource for researchers
interested in local history. Recorded on reel-to-reel and cassette tapes (often
with multiple interviews contained on one tape) these interviews address topics
including the interurban railroads, coal mining, fishing and Mount Baker. The
tapes include sound recordings of many of Galen Biery’s presentations regarding
local history, including several of his “Magic Lantern” slide shows. Both
reel-to-reel tapes and cassette tapes are arranged alphabetically by name of
interviewee or subject. There is a small amount of duplication between material
on reel-to-reel and cassette tapes.

The Biery papers also contain a significant number of visual records,
including reel-to-reel films documenting vessels and activities at the
Bellingham Shipyards during the 1940s. The collection includes a significant
number of photographs and slides documenting the landscape and communities
around Bellingham Bay and Whatcom County and the development of local and
regional industries. Item-level description of photographic images is provided
in the photo database on the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies website.

The collection also contains a large number of maps, many of which
document the development of Whatcom County communities including Sehome,
Fairhaven and Bellingham, as well as the emergence of local and regional
industries such as mining and railways. Maps are arranged into subject folders
for ease of access and ttem-level description is available in the Center’s map
database.

Restrictions on Use

Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal
research. Researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use
materials where such is required by law. Please note that the Center for
Pacific Northwest Studies requires advance notice for use of reel-to-reel
films.

Preferred Citation

Arrangement

The Galen Biery Papers and Photographs are organized in accordance
with the following series arrangement:

Series I: Subject Files ca. 1861-1985

Series II: Lake Whatcom Research undated

Series III: Scrapbooks 1900-1958

Series IV: Newspapers 1873-1993

Series V: Bound Volumes & Books ca. 1889-1954

Series VI: Directories 1920 – 1988

Series VII: Ephemera & Oversized Material ca. 1896-1986

Series VIII: Artifacts undated

Series IX: Audio: Reel to Reel Tapes 1956-1989

Series X: Audio: Cassette Tapes 1955-1992

Series XI: Visual Material: Video Tapes 1983-1993

Series XII. Visual Material: Reel to Reel Films ca.
1940-1949

Series XIII: Photographs and Slides ca. 1870-1980

Series XIV: Maps ca. 1858-1988 (bulk 1890-1988)

Custodial History

Although Galen Biery transferred materials to the Center for Pacific
Northwest Studies over the course of his life, the Biery family donated the
bulk of his records to the Center on March 18, 1995, September 13, 1995, and
January 2, 1996. On March 6, 1996 (the date of their formal deeding to the
Center), these donations were officially recognized as the Galen Biery Papers.
At least half of the materials transferred by Galen Biery and the Biery family
to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies were records generated by Pacific
American Fisheries (PAF). As a long-term PAF employee, Biery played an integral
part in the preservation and collection of the the company’s records. In 1965,
following PAF’s closure, Biery was allowed to salvage selected company records
before the remainder were piled in the parking lot and burned. He later
co-ordinated the transfer of these and additional PAF materials to the Center
for Pacific Northwest Studies, where they are available in the Pacific American
Fisheries collection. The Biery family transferred further of Galen Biery’s
manuscript and photographic records to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
in 2002.

Processing Note

Terence Badger processed the Galen Biery Papers and Photographs for
the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 1997. The material of the Galen
Biery Papers was transferred to the Center pre-arranged by type of media. This
basic arrangement by format was retained during processing. In 2004, Ruth
Steele re-engineered the collection and its finding aid, integrating additional
manuscript and visual materials which the Biery family transferred to the
Center in 2002.

Separated Materials

A companion collection of Galen Biery materials is housed at the
Whatcom Museum of History & Art photo archives.